Lancashire

Today the Government approved Cuadrilla's plans to go ahead with fracking at a site in Lancashire. You will have heard the to-ing and fro-ing that has gone on between the local council, Cuadrilla, various activist groups, the government and the local people.

To this day, I would love to ask that doctor, 'what are you sorry for?' There's nothing to be sorry about, it's just a different journey. Our girls bring us so much joy and in September they started at the same mainstream school as their big brother Finlay. Our family feels happy and healthy. So now, four years down the line, if this is our journey then we wouldn't swap our tour guides for the world.

This rejection is worth celebrating, but we must not stop campaigning until there is a complete ban on the practice in Britain. Only then can we turn a corner in terms of our energy mix, to focus it on renewables. What we know now is that the fight for climate action can be won.

The toxic politics of fracking in Britain beg important questions: are our leaders serving the interests of the people, or their wealthy friends in the fracking industry? Whatever the answer, one thing is clear: the government's wilful disregard of legitimate public concerns over fracking is a shameful attempt to impose a future on this country that three-quarters of us do not want. Fracking, it seems, can poison democracy as well as the environment.

It seems then, that much like the high-pressure fluid injected to fracture our rock, mounting pressure from politicians and campaigners is creating cracks throughout Britain. Indeed, it is no longer just the 'Green Blob' that opposes fracking.

These people are on the frontline and these planning decisions represent a significant moment in the battle to stop fracking across the UK. If the Council refuses the application it will raise serious doubts on whether any community in the UK would have to accept an extreme form of fossil fuel extraction on their doorsteps and under their property.